Silver Skulls Pick Up Fic
by TheSilentChloey
Summary: In a world of darkness a young man is thrust into the Claymore ranks. Albert Wesker must learn who to trust and who to avoid, but in a world where everything is unpredictable how will he survive to become one of the greatest warriors of them all? A pick up fiction of Najee's Original Silver Skulls. Rated M for safety
1. A New World

**Silver Skulls Chapter 1: A New World**

The golden sunlight filtered down through the trees revealing a lone unconscious figure lying in the centre of the clearing. He was dressed very strangely indeed given the area that he was in and he wasn't the only one in that clearing. There was a man who was dressed in black from head to toe, watching to see if the laying figure would get up or move. As it seemed he wasn't going to move the man in black decided to take the figure to Sutafu, knowing that whoever it was would be a vital research subject and that Silus would want them for the plans he had. The man carefully placed the figure on to a horse that the man in black had with him. It was then that the man, Rimuto realised that he had a youngish man on the horse, but he decided that Silus wouldn't mind. After all it was worth the effort of getting him there.

The arrival was well timed; the scientists were ready for what was to be a first generation of half yoma warriors. The figure didn't stir; Rimuto left him in the care of the scientists to gather more test subjects. He knew that he would have to find many more to please Silus, although Rimuto wasn't quite sure that he wanted to take on that role, yet he did what he could. There was more work that needed to be done and Rimuto had to get as much of it done as he could.

The scientists slowly got to work on the young unconscious man. He was cut open and yoma flesh put into him. They burned the wound closed and it created a stigma that would last forever, no matter what happened it would remain. The young man was never going to be the same again. The work was completed within roughly an hour or so and then two young assistants transferred the young man into the recovery cells. The scientists had no idea that this young man was very special. They had no idea that this man carried a virus that would one day change the way half-yoma worked from the one way monsters that they made. Even so, the scientists were soon made busy again as Rimuto bought yet more strange young men to work on.

He moaned weakly in the cell as he came to. He was in strange clothing (to him at least) and he had no idea who he was or even where he was, the latter more important to him than his name since he was sure that would come to him later. He wasn't alone. There were two others with him; each on their own straw pile with a bucket in the corner that he was sure was there for their toilet. To his left was the bars of the cell, it was easy enough to reach out of but there was no easy opening. He went back to his pile of straw and decided to think of other things than worrying about where he was for the time being. He soon lay in the straw pile, nausea and pain washing over him. He heard footsteps and voices from a corridor, but he couldn't be sure,

"So we have enough to start?" A distinctively male voice said calmly,

"Yes sir, I have four young men in the recovery cells as we speak,"

"Good, I hope they will be complete in time," the apparent leader said.

It was then that he remembered his name. The more he thought about himself the more he remembered. He was Albert Wesker, a former operative and scientist of the Umbrella Corporation, power hungry and furious at Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine for foiling his plans. Now it seemed to Albert that he was in hell, burning with pain and reeling with more of it. He could feel a foreign force in his body, a force that was darker than the T-Virus he'd injected himself with to become stronger and realised that he had to at the very least be alive to feel such pain, the best he could figure was that the T-Virus was reacting with something. It was reacting quite powerfully with whatever it was that was in his body, changing him into something else altogether. Now he was beginning to wonder if that was such a great idea, and he slept uneasily. It wouldn't do for him to lose his humanity, he knew it; somehow he had to be human even though his humanity was slipping away from him and everything he ever knew was changing.

It was a new day, although devoid of sunlight Albert couldn't tell the time but the pain continued much like when he last woke up. A man came in with some food for them and he was taken to a new cell, this one was a bit better equipped, but Albert knew it wasn't very comfortable. However the straw filled mattress was better than the pile by a long shot and Albert Wesker soon fell asleep, the pain forcing his body to rest. The room was still locked by Albert's guess but at least he could see the sun and roughly gauge time. He spent about five days in that room and he was fed every day, the pain reducing his appetite. He then was taken to yet another cell; this one had three others in it and bunk beds. The cell was more like a room, and the men settled down to talking with one another. As each man found himself having to face both friend and foe alike each had to set aside his differences as they were all going through the same painful ordeal together and it was enough to bond them somewhat. It was Albert that seemed more in control of the group, Hunk and Nikolai both seeming to recognise that they were not in any way capable of matching Albert's strength. William Birkin was Albert's friend and had to get over his hatred for Hunk and for the time being they decided to find out what they were doing there. However it was going to be several more weeks yet.

After four weeks the men all noticed changes, particularly Albert. He found that he was not only much stronger than before, he was also more sensitive to what was going on around him. He could feel Hunk's movements (though not as well as Hunk could feel the others) he could also hear people talking about something called yoma and could hear without fail the clanking of amour and voices sounded worried and pleading. It wasn't until they had been able to do it for a week that the they were let out of the room for the first time in what was (by Albert's best guess) months. In reality it was only a few weeks. Albert was surprised by the human contact, although he felt that it was what was needed. The man spoke to them all as if they were new recruits, he introduced himself to them and Albert realised that they were to be for a noble purpose, to protect the humans. Albert decided that he would accept that and knew that any plans of dominating the world were never his to have any more as he was never again going to be able to do so (at least not yet anyway) and he decided to at least try, since the men had been reasonably polite towards them. He would have to simply go with the more annoying task of protecting the humans for the time being and see how that suited him.

The first town that Albert came to was a poor town, primitive by his standards, and he sighed, 'so I am reduced to being in the stone age,' he thought as he looked about him, 'no, the middle ages,' he thought as he walked through the town, alone as the humans kept well clear of him, staring like no to tomorrow. He sighed. The men in black had told him to expect the humans to stare at him, that he was something foreign to them. Albert sighed and stood in the town centre, eyes looking this way and that. He was told by Rimuto that there might be a yoma in this town, but so far there was nothing. Albert wondered why he felt a dark presence among the humans. He decided to find a quiet place to rest while he was waiting to engage the yoma that he was ordered to. The dark presence was getting stronger, like he was getting closer to it. Albert felt the yoma half of his body react and he struck what had to be the source of it. Surely this man was the source of the yoma. Purple blood spilled out of the body as Albert's blade hit home. The humans screamed at first, Albert couldn't tell what they were yelling until the body started to change. He'd killed the yoma that was all he needed. Once he dismissed the humans with a simple gesture, he was offered a room for the night. Albert decided that it had to be better than sleeping in the open and accepted it.

A few weeks of killing yoma and he was soon considered to be a high ranking warrior. He'd not seen William for some time and Rimuto had told him that he needed to head to headquarters. Albert was confused by the command but he did as he was told for now.

Arriving was easily done and as Albert walked in there was a pretty young woman sitting in a pose that he considered a little provocative but he ignored her, until she spoke, "So you're the one that has taken my rank, my, my, you are quite handsome indeed," she was shapely and wore her hair in pigtails that curled down her shoulders and she had a mole under her right eye and wore red lipstick. Albert gave her a cursory glance and wished he hadn't. The position was certainly aimed at making him focus on her, but he heard a familiar voice, "Number 2 you say? Well ok I'll do my best." It was William, it had to be. Albert walked in and grinned as he saw his friend and the man in the chair smiled,

"Wesker, good, you're here. Now just to inform you, your efforts have been noticed and we would like to reward you with the Number 1 rank, I know that you will be more than able to cope with the rank duties."

"Thank you," Albert said quietly, and he waited to hear what was next. Silus smiled sadly and said calmly,

"It is a shame that I won't be staying on for much longer, but I am sure that you will work just fine, your new handler will be Orsay, I trust that you will do the best that you can.". Silus coughed and Albert and William looked at one another, worried. Silus didn't sound well at all but Albert and William were not able to do anything for him. With a wave the pair was sent to their regions and it was a few weeks until they were bought together again.

Albert had been resting with his back against his sword. He was for the most part relaxed, yet to see Orsay. He was thinking of the female he'd seen weeks ago. Footsteps alerted him to the fact that he would soon be working. It was Orsay just like Albert suspected. He wasn't alone with him was Nikolai and William. He spoke to Albert steadily, "You have a new task Albert, you are needed to hunt a voracious eater you'll be working with Roxanne, she is a skilled hunter and she should be able to guide you, but you will have to be careful of her," the man warned him. Albert nodded and he walked with William and Nikolai, all three talking about what a voracious eater was.

When they arrived it was the woman that he saw before, hair in two curly pigtails, side-swept fringe, red lipstick and shapely figure. She looked them over and said rather formally, "I am the Number 3, Roxanne, I am the captain of this hunt, I hope that you boys can keep up and keep your wits about you, although given your ranks you should all be just fine. Just so that you know, voracious eater is a covert term for awakened beings. Awakened beings are warriors who have exceeded their yoki limit," Roxanne looked at them impassively and there was more clanking as Hunk arrived, she continued, "it's our job to put this former comrade out of her misery, she's not the most powerful, but she is strong. Let's move out"

Following Roxanne was enough for Albert, the woman seemed a lot like him, a power hungry person, and he felt a form of attraction, but not overly much. Albert was more concerned with how he was going to get the job done. Hunk was a good team member. The monster reared up into her awakened form and took a swipe at Roxanne, the warrior leaping cleanly and calmly out of the way. She knew what to do clearly and Albert admired the skill that the warrior had. Clearly Roxanne was an older warrior. He would have to learn as much as he could from her. With that in mind Albert noticed that Roxanne was fully regarding the awakened being. He learned to watch what she was thinking and he learned not to underestimate his opponents a skill that was to serve him well soon enough.

The being was disgusting for lack of better words, more like a twisted BOW than anything else, 'at least it's just damage that it causes,' Albert thought. He looked at Roxanne and saw that they were within touching distance. He pushed the thought out of his head and tried to pull his own weight.

The battle was over after half an hour and soon it was time for them to return to their regions. Albert thought that Roxanne was more than relieved to be clear of them, like she hated all of them for whatever reasons that she had. Albert rolled his eyes and kept working. For him it was enough to do what he had to in order to gain more skill. He decided the next time that she met him he wouldn't be so unskilled that she had reason to hate him.


	2. Love and Hate

**Chapter 2: Love and Hate**

Months passed since he saw Roxanne. He tried to forget her, tried not to think about how much she was like him. Yet the more he tried, the more Albert failed miserably. For the first time in his life, Albert Wesker felt that there was a woman he wanted without really knowing why he felt that way. Shaking his head he kept walking to the next job. It was time to hunt the yoma. He was completely unaware that he was being watched by the very warrior that he was thinking about.

Roxanne saw the skill with which Albert took out the yoma with pretty much his bare hands. She was surprised at Albert's intense strength and hadn't liked it one bit. She wanted to get close to him, not just because of the power he possessed, but because he was a man too. It was unexplored territory for Roxanne and she was curious to say the least. Either she would have to see in there was a way to gain his power or a way to find out why the men of the Organization had made it crystal clear that the male warriors were to work like the female ones and find a way to be his perhaps earning her place as the powerful warrior that she was. Whatever the case she found Albert Wesker irresistible and wanted to watch him some more. '_Yes I see...by using you strength you humiliate your opponents...I wonder though just how skilled with the blade are you? Would it be possible to tell at all since your yoki is so deep?_' Roxanne thought. She left for her normal area having seen enough for now.

A few weeks later Albert was leading another hunt, this time his team were all female. It was annoying as the warriors gossiped like no tomorrow, each chatting about who'd done what damage to the yoma and so on even though it was only two of them it was still annoying despite the youngest of them tailing along quietly and she didn't say that much really. Her name was Rafaela and she was the only one Albert could stand. Her older sister Luciela was a nightmare and he didn't know how Rafaela stood her, especially when he wanted to break the elder's neck as she was such a child for one who was supposed to be older and wiser. When he found a good resting place for the night, he spoke with Rafaela and the girl had a quiet acceptance that while she was the younger of the two, she was the one who did the control work for her older sister. This time talk turned to other comrades and he was surprised when the only other warrior spoke, Elibeth, he thought she was called. All he knew was that she was Number 13, sleek and quite knowing for her age a surprise if there was one. Her short hair was all over the place, unkempt and untidy. Her silver eyes darted around a lot and now it seemed that she was about to say something important so he listened like he had nothing better to do, not wanting to encourage gossip since it was all the females seemed to do at any rate whenever they were bought together.

'So who's the warrior of love and hate that you were talking about anyway?" Luciela asked tilting her head at Elibeth, silver eyes wide and curious,

"They call her Roxanne of Love and Hate, the men say she's troublesome and difficult to handle. All I know is that she's creepy; comrades have died whenever she's been involved, usually once she surpassed them. I heard that not once did she care that they died, or that she was with them when they died. In fact she seems a bit like a copycat really."

"Well she doesn't sound that scary," Luciela said boldly; although the girl had never met Roxanne yet and she would never surpass the older warrior.

Outside in the pouring rain a lone figure stood in the open expanse of what was the base of a young mountain. She was waiting for the fun to begin, hiding her yoki from the warriors below. Roxanne was annoyed that the battle had yet to start, however she was waiting in a good spot. Water ran down her chest, legs and into her amour. She was trained to tolerate it and she did. It would be fun, Roxanne decided when the rain finally stopped and she got to see the action from a little way hidden from the hunting team.

It was near morning when Albert finally realised that Roxanne was there, the latter slipping a bit in her hiding since the awakened being was a little too close for comfort and she had moved a bit in avoiding it. He instinctively pinned her down, and struggled to ignore the fact that her body was now underneath his with only thin fabric separating him from her and whatever he wanted to do to her. Albert kept her there for a few seconds, hissing at her demanding to know why she was there. The being distracted him from her (which was a little welcome, but still he'd not wanted it to just yet a he was enjoying the sensation of her pressed against his body) and Roxanne slipped away as his team helped him to defeat it. After sending them back to their regions he actively tried to find Roxanne. He had no luck and headed to the next town.

Roxanne panted as she fell into the clearing finally clear of Albert. _'Albert Wesker is something else_,' she thought, _'that was intoxicating_'. He was more interesting to her than any other warrior had been in the time that she'd been a warrior. She grimaced and rested, trying not to imagine what it would be like to have sex with him, trying with little success as the thoughts remained where she didn't want them. Roxanne mused that Albert was truly infuriating her and that she was thoroughly infatuated with him.

Albert managed to sleep reasonably well, but he wondered about Roxanne, why she would be called love and hate. He thought one possible meaning was because she was so pretty and stirred him towards love like a wife, yet so irritating like an enemy that she made him want to hate her all the same token. He was soon to learn that Roxanne was more complex than he'd ever imagined.

As he worked he set about making time to try and practice his sword work. He found life as a half-yoma boring, with very little excitement. He decided to see if he could possibly get some fun out of it and was surprised when Orsay turned up with rather interesting amour. Different to the light amour that Albert had been wearing previously it was black and looked better than his light amour. He raised an eyebrow but Orsay didn't say much other than he would need to be ready for his next job. Albert signed but he put the new amour on. Somehow it was more comfortable to him than before; perhaps he decided it was just his imagination.

Of course he was once again teamed up with Elibeth, Luciela and Rafaela, the three well used to him as they'd worked with him before. As with the last time he'd seen them the three were gossiping yet again. Albert said nothing and they got the task done. He was surprised when he came across none other than Roxanne, the warrior spotting them and slinking off to do her work. Albert knew that something was up; why else would she be there? However he had work to do so he did it. The two girls didn't do too badly and he said so. Luciela decided to play a game with her sister and poor Rafaela had little say in the matter. He rolled his eyes and noticed that the target was too easy to kill and was soon alone again. He walked into a town and for a place to stay the night without passing it on the ground.

He was slowly rising as a new day began. He was told that he was working on his own, not realising that he was going to be face to face with Roxanne. She was killing yoma quite contently and now she had plenty of fun by herself. She was aware that Albert was on his way to take care of the yoma and she decided to continue her work.

Albert noticed that there were some dead yoma, and he killed what he could and looked about him and wondered what was going on. Clearly he wasn't as alone as he thought. Roxanne got one that he would have killed had she not intervened. He'd half gapped at her and then she spoke, "You are such a child," he looked at her opened mouthed. Roxanne looked at him irritably and sighed loudly. It was then that he spoke darkly,

"I am no child," he hissed and Roxanne glared at him. For a moment they both glared at one another and Roxanne left the town bored not looking at him. He sensed her for a short while before she disappeared from his range.

Weeks passed, and before long he once again had to work with Roxanne and Elibeth. It was an easily completed task and without really realising it, he soon found that Roxanne was a hard worker; she pulled her weight and fought hard against the yoma. Eventually he found himself travelling alone in the forest. He hated sleeping on the ground, so he decided to move a bit more to get to the nearest town. It was then that he came across an interesting scene.

Roxanne was asleep, naked and completely unaware of his presence. He had to look the other way, which was difficult since he'd never really seen a naked woman. Sure he knew what a body looked like from a scientific stand point, however he had never really had the opportunity to sleep with a woman. He rolled his eyes and somehow managed to keep walking past the sleeping Roxanne although he didn't know how he managed it. She really looked absolutely stunning in her own way. He sighed and tried to think about fighting the yoma, but failing a little because despite the stigma that she had, Roxanne was beautiful.

It was about then, just as Albert had settled for the night in a bed his amour on the floor; as naked as the day he was born that he felt his own needs. With a sigh he settled to sleep. It was going to be a long night. Especially since he was thinking about Roxanne and wondering what it would be like to have sex with her. He shook his head and muttered, "Sure, why not she thinks of me as a child. I am being too optimistic thinking that she'd have sex with me on those grounds," he sighed as his body wouldn't settle and his yoki hiked a bit. He decided to think about yoma and that seemed to help ease his body to a more relaxed state.

Roxanne woke to a new day. She was soon dressed and headed to the next town. It wasn't fun when she almost came within striking distance of Albert. That thought though was a pleasing one since Roxanne hated Albert as much as she wanted to see what was under that uniform. Roxanne had an idea, and idea that she really liked. She really wanted his abilities that she'd seen, they were useful and she was certainly in the mood for them. How she was going to obtain them however she didn't know. She left the clearing with Albert in her head. She soon found it annoying. She decided to have a large amount of alcohol just to distract her from thinking about Albert. She was giggling and happily and blissfully drunk. As she stumbled about the room that she was staying in, she found herself gradually lying on the bed, laughing and giggling helplessly.

It was three full days before she travelled again; level headed and alcohol out of her system. She found and horde of yoma and proceeded to kill them with the blade of evil, all while thinking about Albert and how unusual he was for a warrior. She rather liked him, as she had all of her other comrades, and thinking about them set the grief bar right up there. She was still so pained about their deaths that it hurt her beyond the ability to even cry. She paused as she sensed Albert not far from her. For some reason it bothered her and she swiftly evaded him with her yoki concealed as much as she possibly could.

Albert had heard rumours that a warrior had been drunk and just about human-like in her way. She didn't hurt anyone, but the town were talking about the scandal, suggesting that it wasn't normal to see one behave like that. Orsay had asked Albert to get to the bottom of it and see if he could speak with the warrior in question. They narrowed it down to Roxanne, and Albert was confused. She was his elder and acting like a little girl? It didn't make that much sense and as he walked it confused him all the more. He became irritated about Roxanne's behaviour and saw the bodies of many yoma in front of him. He stopped in the nick of time as a yoma was right in front of him. As he pulled at his blade, the yoma fell in pieces before his eyes. Albert stared at it and then he saw Roxanne. She was completely clean with not a single drop of blood on her body or blade, "Albert, what a pleasant surprise," Roxanne's girly voice was higher than he remembered and she was being all flirtatious with him. He tilted his head a little and she smirked, "Or should I say a partially pleasant surprise,"

"What the…" Albert muttered to himself and Roxanne grinned, "What are you talking about Roxanne?" He asked,

"Oh fine then," She smirked, her voice going back to normal, "I guess you're just too noble to allow any rumours from the younger warriors about bedding a woman, human or comrade," she went to leave and Albert didn't know what in his life possessed him to grab her shoulder before she walked away, or more accurately her shoulder pauldron and turned her around so that there was a very small gap between them, enough that he could pull her closer if he wanted and that thought alone was enough to drive him mental. He focused on what she was saying,

"Rumours of bedding other warriors?" He asked as levelly as he could, the gap the only thing between him and the thin fabric of Roxanne's uniform and Roxanne's body a gap he was so eager to cross, but restrained himself from crossing just yet. Roxanne was his mirror and the yoma within both of them was responding to the sexual tension between them, their eyes glowing. His blood red, hers molten gold as both seemed to want the other. Albert had to force himself to actually keep his thoughts focused on what he wanted to know, not the tension between them.

"Yes, and juicy ones too, I'm lead to believe," Roxanne said a little surprised that his yoki was jumping like hers. Somehow and she didn't know the how of it a yoma decided to brake the moment up, by clawing a hole in her chest so that blood erupted out of her chest. Roxanne wasn't fazed, just annoyed that the creature was ruining her day. She cut the offending claw and ran after it, Albert following her as she killed the yoma so quickly the beast was screaming for mercy as its head thud the ground. What she didn't expect was pulling out the claw to cause her to nearly fall to her knees. She was disoriented for only a second or so and found herself being kissed by Albert, and leapt back in shock coughing and spluttering as she got herself healed, she was shocked, silver eyes widened and stared at him, "What...what was that for?! I didn't need your help to recover; I would have done that on my own!" Roxanne spat. She had to leave and she turned to leave and paused, she'd never been kissed before and it was a shock. She left with haste Albert staring after her confused, yet knowing he was perhaps a little lucky that she didn't slap him.

Albert sighed, annoyed that his offer of help was brushed off like it was nothing to her and left to his region. He was so focused on working that he almost didn't notice the warning signs that the weather was turning bad and by the time he did, he was well clear of the town that he could have spent the night in.

It was about three months later that Roxanne saw him. She decided to teach him a useful lesson. She walked up to him with purpose. Since he'd shocked her with a kiss, she would return the favour. However she wasn't as forceful, softly kissing him and then retracting.

"That should have been the first one," She said, turning her back on him so that he couldn't see her blushing deeply, "I have work to do, so don't bother following me,"

With that she walked away, heat flooding her cheeks as she walked. Albert froze, shocked and yet as he wiped his mouth he thought about it. Roxanne really did taste like the sweetest of candies.

He didn't know that she was flushed a brilliant shade of red, but when he spoke she stopped moving, "I didn't think you would taste so...sweet." He said and Roxanne paused. Albert meant what he said, "I hate you toying with me and yet, I want you so much I can't even think straight, I guess that's where your nickname comes from,"

"No, that isn't the reason I have that nickname," Roxanne said to him quietly, then she kept walking away shaking slightly as Albert had basically said he wanted her. Albert contained his anger at her, sighing as he considered Roxanne the most skilled at annoying him and pushing all of his buttons. He resolved not to talk to her for a while, least he imagine her without her amour on or something worse. Albert sighed and left the dilapidated town. He loved and hated Roxanne in equal measure.


	3. Albert and Roxanne

**Silver Skulls Chapter 3: Albert and Roxanne**

Albert returned to Sutafu, angry and frustrated at Roxanne. He'd decided to ask Rimuto about her. He was curious as to how Roxanne got her nickname in the first place. It also annoyed him at how close he'd gotten to her. As he walked down the dark corridors of Sutafu, Albert ran into a couple of warriors, they were young and didn't interest him in the slightest. They saw him and quickly raced off, giggling as they left. The light was enough that a human could travel down them, but wouldn't because this level was reserved for warriors and their 'rooms' which really were more like cells than rooms but Albert didn't care. He followed the corridor into the main room of the Organization and saw that Rimuto was seated in his throne-like chair, a young-looking Number 10 standing behind him. As far as Albert knew that one was Vivian, a nice and well-rounded warrior. She was accompanied by the new anti-warrior trainee Risa. Both of them looked older than most of the warriors and Albert waited for Rimuto to speak,

"Ah Wesker, good to see you," Rimuto said with a pleasant smile, or rather as close to a smile as Albert had ever seen on his face as a smile. Rimuto really was hard to read beyond the bored expression on his face now days that he never used to have. Albert wondered on it a little longer and kept his expression impassive, his sun-glasses keeping his eyes hidden from the man who once was his handler, "It stands to reason that there is something on your mind,"

"Yes," Albert said, quietly not wanting to speak around the two other half-yoma, Rimuto noticed and made a signal for the pair to leave, Vivian lowering her head respectfully to Albert and Risa looking to Vivian for guidance. At Vivian's beckon the girl followed her. Albert waited until the two were out of the room before he spoke, "Rimuto, what do you know about Roxanne and what happened to her comrades that liked her?"

Rimuto rocked back a little in the chair, "Ah, the Number 3, Roxanne of Love and Hate I take it?" He looked at Albert and sighed. Clearly Rimuto knew that question was bound to come up, he'd expected it to be sooner rather than later. Clearly Albert was a man to wait on things, Rimuto decided. The new chief cleared his throat and spoke carefully to Albert, "She has obtained her name because of the bipolarity of her relationships with her comrades," he said slowly, "It was quite troublesome to us of course because a lot of the warriors are more or less afraid of her. From what we can piece together is that Roxanne has the ability to mimic her comrades' techniques and once she surpasses them, it is only a matter of time before that comrade dies," Rimuto looked at Albert to see what reaction he'd get. Not that much it seemed as Albert looked thoughtful. Rimuto saw him nod once and he said calmly,

"If she copies one of my abilities, I will report this to you as soon as I can." And with that Albert left the Organization's headquarters.

Clearing out yoma was the mainstay of his duty. Mostly he cleaned out towns as he came across them, Orsay travelling afterwards and collecting the fee from them. Albert hadn't seen Roxanne since she'd kissed him. He was beginning to hope that he didn't see her, and his luck ran dry as the autumn turned to winter in the south of the land. It was raining and Albert had just killed a yoma. The town were kind enough to provide a place for him to stay the night and as he walked into the inn he ran into Roxanne, the last place that he'd expected to see her. He wasn't aware that she'd been called back to Sutafu, but if he knew it wouldn't have changed a thing, "Well, well, here I was trying to dispel rumours and yet we meet like this," Roxanne said with a raised eyebrow she was looking at him coyly. She was amused by the fact that he seemed surprised, "It hardly seems fair, really," Roxanne toyed with her hair nervously. She hated the fact that Albert was just too handsome to ignore, hated the thoughts that were running through her mind about him and most of all wished that there was a human that could ease those feelings she was trying to suppress without having to admit it. There was nothing she could do though; no human was like her, no man willing to ease it. She went to leave that was perhaps the best choice; rumours or not, she would raise her base power first before she tried to learn from him the unique hand to hand combat moves she's seen him use before. Now wasn't the time to ask him. She would wait a while longer.

Albert watched her walk away and gritted his teeth in unbidden frustration; he'd been so close to her and not even known it! How could his perception be so poor? He sighed and headed into the room, taking off his amour and his clothing. He rested in the bed, eyes closed but not really asleep. He would sleep later with his back against his sword, like all of the other warriors. He mused on Roxanne and without warning got up. The bed was just that bit uncomfortable to him and he sighed, "Well I suppose I could sleep," he muttered to himself pulling on his clothing and resting with his back against his sword. He wasn't sure why, but the idea that having sex with Roxanne was an idea that he couldn't exactly chase away.

It was the beginning of spring, when Albert finally saw her again, naked in the water, her blond hair flowing around her shoulders as silken curls. He'd never seen Roxanne with her hair out before and as he can nearer she tensed. Clearly Roxanne could sense him and went to retreat into the cold water. Albert came over to the water's edge and spoke, "You truly are beautiful...you are powerful and even though you suffered a lot of pain you still manage to be as bright as the sun. You truly are an amazing warrior, Roxanne."

Roxanne was treading water and she stopped and looked at Albert, "Whatever do you mean?" She asked; her wet hair plastered to her chest and face as she cautiously swam closer to him. Albert sat down and spoke as if to the air around them, but Roxanne was well aware that it was she that he was speaking to,

"I mean that you are different and unique from the other warriors. And don't call me a child, you may be older than me, but I'm not going to call a playful and silly woman my elder." Albert said looking at her through his sunglasses.

"Well that is near impossible," Roxanne sighed, "The first count because you are and the second because I can't help it, life is too much to be dead serious all the time...how do you think I've lived so long," as she said this she was sitting on the bank and the water was flowing over her knees. She looked at Albert and he realised that she was vastly different from him, yet exactly the same, he spoke,

"I never relax," she looked at him and he continued, "Not even with my friends,"

Roxanne looked at him strangely and sighed, "Well then, I suppose that's how you'd prefer to work…you won't last long like that…" she looked over the river clearly lost in thought and Albert watched her. He was surprised that Roxanne could say something like that and despite his thoughts on the matter, he realised that she was right in a way. He had other problems however than what Roxanne was talking about. Together they watched the sun set like silver eyed sentinels. As the orange of the sun slowly melted into the grey of the night Albert got up from the river bank. Roxanne was out of the water and pulled her amour on. A normal human would get hypothermia doing what she did and yet it seemed that she didn't mind in the slightest. Albert decided to at least try to get along with the more experienced Number 3. "There's a nearby town. I'm getting hungry, haven't eaten for a week. Care to join me Roxanne?" He asked her, it wasn't the best pick up line he had, but it seemed to work,

"Fair enough," She smiled suddenly, coyly at him with an added flirtatious wink as well, "I know of a very good place since we are in my region after all."

They walked together and Albert realised that it was the first time that either of them had actually walked side by side like that. He noticed that Roxanne was relaxed and calm, even more so than Albert himself. He also noticed the poise with which Roxanne carried herself, and as she spoke to the innkeeper it was clear that she had the top of it all. He only half listened to what was said and noted that Roxanne had two keys. He didn't ask and simply followed her.

They arrived to a spacious and elegant room. Albert decided it was beautiful despite the primitive technology within. It was the sort of room that wasn't just elegant but it appeared to be more private than most of the other rooms he'd seen before. The bed was huge, soft silken covers on it glittering in the candle light that was surprisingly sparse. As Albert had since learned, medieval times were times of only the richest of people having adequate lighting. Even then candles were incredibly expensive, nowhere near the cost of a half-yoma warrior coming to clear out yoma, but still pretty costly. He mused over the soft scent that wafted from the candles and Roxanne actually giggled a little, "One of the best scents," She said eyes closed in bliss, "My father used to make candles," Albert blinked and he saw a dark expression briefly cross the warrior's face, "I wonder if he died doing that, or if the money he made by selling me was enough…" her voice was soft and she ran her hand past the flame. Albert paused and then saw a smile on her face, "This is different to you clearly," She laughed lightly, hurt and pain clearly forgotten. It made Albert wonder what it was that made her like it. He assumed that it was something else to Roxanne. He didn't know why but he managed to hug her; much to their surprise. Roxanne easily fitted him, and it was a good sensation. Again Albert was very much aware of the lack of proper fabric between them and let go. Roxanne laughed more like a human that a warrior, "You're just too cute Albert," She said laughing,

"Cute hardly sums me at all," Albert grumbled in an undertone that led to Roxanne lightly tapping his cheek,

"You are cute, I'm saying so and it's between just us, no idiotic little children to hear it," She smiled lightly as Albert realised she was perhaps consider him more than a child and a worthy comrade to share a more informal moment with. Clearly Roxanne had to like him at least enough to consider that he was worth talking to in a more flirtatious manner he guessed because she actually liked him, "besides there aren't that many male warriors to call cute!"

Albert gaped at her, and realised that she was teasing him again, he shook his head and sighed, "You really are different…"

"Like I said earlier, you can't go through life always serious, you won't last that way,"

It wasn't long until a human came in with some food and Roxanne waved the human away once the food was placed down. She ate her fill and watched Albert carefully. He was too tense; something had to be done to get him to at least relax. She sighed inwardly, as Albert suddenly stood up. He'd eaten his fill and was more or less in the mood to rest and he mused something very important, he sat on the bed lost in thought.

_It was a long time ago in what was another life, Albert was a young boy. He remembered being more interested in his work than the laughter of the other boys that he worked with. There was one though that was every bit as determined as he was, "Hey this seat taken?" the young teen asked him,_

"_No," Albert said looking at the work that he was assigned to,_

"_I'm William Birkin," the boy said, "Who are you?"_

"_Albert Wesker," he said shortly,_

"_Hey nice," William said grinning at Albert, "Oh! I think you need this,"_

_Albert looked at William and saw something in the eyes of the boy who was before him, and for some reason Albert grinned…widely,_

"_Thanks Will," he said and William was still grinning,_

"_You're welcome Al," and the two laughed. Somehow they'd gone from rivals to friends._

Albert looked over at Roxanne, she was lying along the length of the bed and she spoke absently, "You know, there are a lot of warriors that just don't care about the power that we have as the top ranks of the Organization,"

"Hmm," Albert twitched and looked at Roxanne, and something he always said, "The only thing that can defeat power is more power. That is the one constant in this universe. However, there is no point in power if it consumes itself." He didn't even realise that he'd spoken out loud and Roxanne was pretty surprised briefly and the she smiled,

"Looks like that makes two of us," Roxanne grinned and Albert realised that she was very much near him,

"Yes," He mused, the same tension that they experienced before driving him even more wild than earlier, his eyes glowed their blood red colour and he could see that Roxanne's was a molten gold. She was inches away from him and somehow they ended up kissing.

Albert didn't know what started it, but he knew where it was going. Roxanne had taken a gentle hold of Albert's shoulders, guiding him over her as they kissed. It was clear that he was taller than her but that didn't seem to bother Roxanne. Albert sensed the flow of her yoki now and his own yoki rose as they pressed closer to one another. It wasn't long before he was dumping the rest of his clothing on the floor. She was gentle, her hands soft and light. The moment he entered her; his yoki surged as he growled and moaned, "Try not to let your yoki rise Albert," Roxanne panted, clearly struggling with her own yoki as much as he was, yet she was rigidly holding at 10%, "You need to detach your yoki from the pleasure, I know it's hard, but you have to do it,"

Albert struggled with his yoki and moaned, somehow getting down to 10%, but not without a struggle, "H-how do you manage it?" he forced out through his teeth, near moaning with pleasure. He instinctively picked his pace up, Roxanne moaning helplessly as she tried to answer him. When she did it was laced with a moan,

"I-it's very difficult to do," She said, panting as he seemed to pause briefly. Albert's own instincts seemed to take over, but at least he felt some form of control. Albert decided not to complete within Roxanne, there was too much of a risk of a child and that wasn't a good thing at this point in time.

Albert lay alongside Roxanne, shaking a little and very much aware that he was very close to a feeling he didn't know how to describe. He was close that was all he knew, "I'm not going further," he said, "at least, not inside you,"

"Oh?" Roxanne blinked and then she smiled, "Leave it to me, I know of a way where we can avoid that problem all together,"

"What…?" Albert moaned suddenly, true to Roxanne's word he wasn't within her, but she was bringing him to the point that he'd not gone to for fear of getting her pregnant. He didn't have much time to wonder at what she was doing when a deep and powerful wave of pleasure washed over his body, and he lay back moaning.

Roxanne grinned, "My, you really taste delicious,"

"…" Albert lay on his back and felt Roxanne lay on his chest with her hair flowing over his neck and shoulders.

"I suppose we won't get too much time to enjoy ourselves," Roxanne sighed, "I'll have to head for a job soon," she turned her head so that he could see her silvery gold eyes, "it shouldn't take too long though," she smiled and for some reason Albert had an uneasy feeling in his body; one that he couldn't shake away no matter how hard he tried. Something told him that this would be the last time he saw her. He hoped he was wrong; he had come to care for Roxanne and she had after all been the first woman that he'd made love to. He closed his eyes and slept.


	4. A New Title

**Silver Skulls Chapter 4: A New Title**

Two warriors walked together in the cold winter morning, both having finished their jobs. One was tallish with short cut blond hair, the other lanky and almost thin in comparison. Both were men. They were discussing the recent promotion to "Skull" and the taller man spoke, "Well William, what do you make of it?" The tall man asked his companion,

"I don't know what to make of it to be honest…" William, the slightly shorter of the two said seriously, "Do you think it's because we…" he let his sentence hang in the air as they sensed the other two of the "Skulls" arrive. Nikolai and Hunk were both now wearing black amour like William and Albert, their swords the only thing that made them the same as their female half-yoma counterparts. Albert was still the Number 1, but now he was able to sort out minor disputes among his fellow warriors; as well as the other men of course. He was also responsible for enforcing the rules of the Organization, something he didn't particularly care for as Rimuto seemed to be turning strange for lack of better words in Albert's mind. It also didn't help that just three weeks before he and the other Skulls had heard that the Organization were possibly the cause of the yoma outbreak in the first place. Albert sighed and answered William's unspoken question, "I believe so," and Hunk looked at them, clearly knowing full well what they were talking about.

"So now vhat are ve going to do?" Nikolai asked seriously, "I have enough on my plate vithout the Organization trying to replace me you know,"

"As far as we know," Albert said through his teeth, "This…promotion is more or less a bribe to keep the female warriors from finding out what we already know about the Organization," Albert looked at Hunk, "Hunk, how much do you know about their latest project?"

"Simple," Hunk said through the mask he always wore, "They're looking at a lesser "eyes" to stay at Sutafu and control their more troublesome warriors,"

William and Nikolai both looked between Albert and Hunk,

"Vhat for I thought Hunk vas enough to keep them in check?" Nikolai asked calmly,

"So did I," William muttered to himself,

"The new "eyes" is a supplementary warrior only," Hunk said darkly, and the four went quiet. Clearly Hunk didn't like the idea that there was a woman that would have the same power as him, or rather a woman that would get in the way.

Meanwhile in Sutafu there was talk among the men about how to obtain a warrior that would be able to keep an eye on the newly created Silver Skulls and on other more troublesome warriors such as Roxanne. Dae was suggesting a couple of methods but none seemed to work. Eventually it was Orsay that piped up an idea, "How about we look for girls who are naturally sensitive to what is going on around them, like Hunk,"

"Orsay, you are a genius," Rimuto said boredly, although he was secretly pleased with what he was hearing. This girl that Orsay suggested would be the ideal solider for them, "I think it is well worth looking into, if such a girl could be found."

Meanwhile some several thousand swords away, a group of female warriors were quietly tracking down a target. This particular group consisted of Roxanne of Love and Hate as well as Luciela, Rafaela and Elibeth. Roxanne knew the area they were in was notorious for awakened beings. She had warned the others to remain calm and to follow her lead as she was the most skilled of the hunters among that group of warriors as well as the strongest. She didn't expect them to be fighting an awakened being that was just that bit too strong for them. Oh, she was strong enough, but the younger ones weren't. Roxanne and Elibeth both took the brunt of the damage together all while protecting Luciela and Rafaela. The damage that the pair took was enough to kill them, but not before they significantly increased Luciela's and Rafaela's chance to survive.

The two arrived at Sutafu, battered and bruised from their ordeal that was about to get that bit worse. Upon hearing that it was the sisters' fault that Roxanne had died Albert had his blade inches from their throats. He was furious that a warrior he'd cared about was dead. Of course they were lucky that Albert was called in by Rimuto. Luciela sunk to her knees and Rafaela stood poised and calm, despite the fear that she felt on the inside.

Weeks passed since Roxanne's death. Albert was walking alongside William and both were quiet. William seemed to know that Albert didn't want to talk about his reaction about the news of Roxanne's death. Still William couldn't help but wonder what made Albert so upset in the first place.

_William sat by the river bank staring at the star filled sky. He was thinking about Annette again and how much he missed her and his daughter Sherry. William didn't know how to deal with the pain within his heart, nor did he even know what to do about it. Of all the men, he was the only one that actually had a wife and child. Albert never married nor did he express any interest in women in general that William knew of. Hunk and Nikolai were more interested in showing each other up in what he could do to the other and William was the odd man out. He held his head in his hands and for not the first time since becoming a half-yoma warrior William Birkin felt alone. Even though his female comrades were asleep not far from him; not one knowing his past, although they'd certainly guessed a good percentage of it without really digging too deeply into it. He was amazed at how easy it was for them to figure out that he'd lost his wife and child, even though they didn't know why he'd lost Annette and Sherry. He supposed he should have been grateful. They were after all only trying to support him, but he felt like it wasn't what he needed. There were other things to worry about and Number 15 was one of those things. She was a nice enough kid, but a little sick in the head. Of that Birkin was certain; why else would shivers run down his spine whenever she was involved? He saw one of them rise, and she simply sat alongside him. She was the Number 10, Vivian; the anti-warrior. Rimuto had decided that Vivian should be out and about like the other warriors since Risa (the unofficial Number 10) was enough to keep the men safe. As well as a young trainee, Lana; Birkin belatedly realised. Three was over kill obviously. Little did Birkin know that she wasn't his enemy like he thought, but she would become a friend to him in ways that he didn't expect. He would discover what it was to have a friend of a different kind, a friend like Albert. But a friend that knew his losses far more keenly._

They came to a river and William decided to have a swim. Albert sat lazily on the bank, lost in thought as William enjoyed the cooling water. After half an hour Albert joined William and the pair chatted casually while treading water. Albert felt a little better but he was still upset about Roxanne's death. Heck, he'd even threatened to kill Luciela and Rafaela if he saw them again, and that really kept them as far away as possible for him. He felt guilty, perhaps he shouldn't have cared that much, but William was the only friend that Albert had, surely he would be able to explain what Albert couldn't. Of course talk didn't steer that way and Albert had no intention of saying anything. They climbed up the bank afterwards and pulled on their amour. It didn't matter if they were drenched in water as travelling would have them dry in no time. Albert and William parted ways; they had jobs to attend to. Albert had warriors that he had to see, William had to help Dae make new ones. Hunk and Nikolai were tasked with finding potential warriors as well as several of the men in black, the handlers of various warriors. These duties were supposed to keep the Skulls "busy" and Albert supposed they did to an extent, but they were only recent and mostly due to requests of the Skulls themselves rather than Rimuto's insistence…_no it would be a bit of both_ Albert realised and sighed, _god damn it I wish I hadn't have said anything!_ He could sense the pair of warriors that he had to talk with and carefully arrived.

Months passed like a blur to Hunk. He constantly kept an ear out for word that new "eyes" were created and for the most part he was afraid. He knew he shouldn't be, but he was. As a man he was at risk of awakening and yet…here he was unawakened and face as hidden as ever. The men speaking among themselves as yet again, not a single girl had the skill that they were looking for. The men had been in meeting for hours and not a single result. He should have been relieved but he wasn't. He wasn't relieved at all. If there was one thing that he'd learned it was that warriors could be replaced. They were expendable to the Organization, as he and the other men had found out the hard way. Rimuto had done what he could to keep them all happy, but there was so much that he could do. Hunk knew that and as much as he hated Rimuto, he couldn't find a good reason for the man to be killed, although he would sometime in the future.

It would take five years after Roxanne's death to bring out Hunk's worst fears. He, Albert, Nikolai and William had all been resting casually in the main area for the warriors when Orsay and Dae arrived with two girls. It was the smallest that caught the Skulls' eyes. Not only was she quite small, but she had an aura about her that screamed yoma, and yet there was no yoki. The other girl was pushing the height limit; she was as tall as Orsay and looked set to really outgrow him. The children were both varying ages and Albert felt that the smaller of the two, the child with dark blond hair would need protection. It was then that he saw her pale blue eyes regard him. She was pretty for a kid, Albert decided, thick eyelashes that really gave her the child look, or was it her hair that barely come down to her shoulders? Albert and Hunk both observed the older girl. She was far too shapely to be a girl surely, body more akin to a woman. Nikolai smirked and said, "Vell at least there's one that's good looking to join the ranks," in his thick Russian accent, William rolled his eyes and said,

"So, you won't get any luck with her, because she'll end up being with someone else," All meant to annoy Nikolai just a little and to get Hunk to bite as well. And yet it wasn't normally William, perhaps it was his yoki that made him want to do what he just did. He was quite pleased when Hunk bit though…too bad Albert didn't put his two cents in.

"Shut up; both of you! Our job has nothing to do with these girls!" Hunk growled, more concerned about how the small girl seemed to respond to Orsay pushing her forward even though he hadn't even moved an inch. It seemed that Orsay had the girl that Rimuto wanted. Hunk looked at her and she didn't meet his eyes…at least not the same as how she'd met Albert's. Hunk noticed that the two were ushered onwards and he somehow knew trouble was to be had.


	5. The Young Warrior

Silver Skulls Chapter 5: The Young Warrior

It was as if something had happened among the men who were called the Silver Skulls. They had a lot to discuss and it was then that they came to an agreement of sorts. They decided that for the time being at least they would leave Rimuto in the top spot until he did something that they deemed to be unreasonable. Albert suggested that as well as this they needed to wait until the number of 'rebellious' warriors were too high for what _should_ be expected. For those that did rebel they were given places to hide, so long as they obeyed the Silver Skulls and kept out of human sight. It was agreed among the Skulls that it was far better to fight the warriors in combat rather than cold blood. Albert reasoned that the men were only doing what Rimuto said because he was the chief and if they could gain the trust of him it would be easier to overthrow Rimuto from within his own circle of protection, and without the loss of warriors that could potentially happen if they were to let the warriors themselves rebel without some sort of discipline. It was something that didn't sit well with Nikolai and Hunk but they were willing to Albert's reasoning for the time being.

Albert and Hunk were more or less busy keeping an eye on the new trainees, as the seventy fifth class of trainees (or 75th generation as they were called) were a handful for the human handlers, mostly because the girls were supposedly so violent, but there were girls that had the potential to be some of the most powerful warriors in existence. Especially the 91st girl, a small child called Chloey. She was the smallest trainee of them all and Albert didn't know _why_ she looked so helpless in his eyes. He was among the ones that discovered that the little girl possessed an incredible yoki reading ability over distance that not even Hunk possessed. They were worried at first that the little girl could very well replace him, but as the Skulls discovered Chloey was at first considered completely mute. No one had heard her say a word, then it was discovered that she could talk, however not much left the girl's mouth. After some time it became apparent that Chloey was virtually silent and said very little unless she had a need to talk, choosing to simply silently take whatever was thrown at her with a quiet expressionless face appearing like a perfect little doll.

Dae had suggested that they not even attempt to cut her open as her wound (unlike so many of the half-yoma before her) was completely healed within days something that was very strange as it normally took months to fully heal on other warriors, even the Skulls had taken months to fully recover from becoming half-yoma. How it happened no one could explain least of all Dae, the man failing to come to a conclusion as to why it was the small child and not the others who were affected in this way. It was sadly going to cause her problems in later life as doubtless the mark was so horrific that the little one would never be like her sisters in arms; her scar wouldn't be pleasant to look at given that it looked like dead flesh, yet it was alive according to Dae. Chloey's chest showed no sign of causing her any pain physically, but the mental scars had to be there; there was no way someone that young wouldn't be affected by it. Albert was certain of it. He'd seen the subtle expression on her small face when she first saw it. The faint look of wanting to cry; yet holding it in remarkably well so that all they saw was a faint frown cross those doll-like features. Albert had known that it would have hurt her yet the little girl showed nothing of her pain. She said nothing about it then and that certainly hadn't changed in the time that he'd gotten to know her. He sighed as he walked down the corridor, what made him take a liking to the small girl? Was it because of the power that she had he wondered? Or was it because he wanted to see just how powerful the little one was? Albert didn't really know and quite frankly it didn't quite matter yet, he would have to see when she became a warrior to know for certain. After all he had come to learn a lot about the girl besides her silence. She surprised him with her capabilities when she put her mind to the tasks she had to do.

It didn't Albert long to discover how to read her even when she wasn't talking, the subtle and unseen expressions on her face that would tell him more than any words out of her mouth ever could; that and her dreams from which he would hear her screaming at regular intervals when she actually slept that he could hear from his own quarters; roughly halfway across the warriors' quarters in Sutafu.

Hunk meanwhile was doing his other duties; watching awakened being hunts and enjoying his own company. He was well aware that there would soon be two eyes walking the earth and while Hunk was getting reasonable treatment he was under the impression that the child would be chosen over him more often than he liked. However he decided to reserve judgement for the time being as it was clear that there was going to be time at the very least to adjust to the new eyes existence. He walked along the road, thoughtful about how many things had changed since he'd become half-yoma. He barely knew himself anymore and if that wasn't bad enough he had to deal with this kid coming in. It made his blood boil at the thought but then he realised something. Nearly all of the warriors were and had been kids. He frowned and then sighed. Except for the warriors he'd met when he was first made a warrior; the rest were young girls. No exception. He, William, Nikolai and Albert were the only men in a long time and the only men from their class left. The females were all dead or awakened beings. Hunk sighed and kept walking. Only when a sharp wind from the north blew did he even realise that he was entering Nikolai's territory. With a smirk he decided to see his old friend and rival.

Nikolai was out resting in the sunlight on a snow bank when Hunk arrived. Both of the men were more vulnerable to awaking than Albert or William because they didn't quite have the same events that lead them to becoming warriors. He was sure that if they did go over 30% they would turn into awakened being and Hunk and Nikolai had both agreed that they wouldn't do that if they could help it. Nikolai had clearly been resting and Hunk smiled a little. He used to tease Nikolai unmercifully when they worked for Umbrella and now it seemed that becoming half-yoma changed that a little more than they expected. He was about to wake the white haired warrior when Nikolai sat up. "Hunk vhat brings you here?"

"Boredom," He said simply to the Russian, "You look like the sun was nice,"

Nikolai laughed and said, "Vell the cold isn't too bad you know, but the sun is another story," he looked up into the sky, "Vere are the others?"

"Last I checked, Wesker was with the new trainee brat,"

"You mean that kid, Chloey right?" Nikolai asked carefully, knowing that Hunk was a little touchy on the subject,

"Yeah," Hunk said sighing as he did so, "But why have Albert watch over her," he muttered,

"I vouldn't know Hunk but I vould guess that it has something to do vith the fact that she's young and Vesker seems responsible and capable of vatching her should she prove to be difficult, ve have enough on our plates as it is, vhat finding all those yoma that keep appearing, and some of us have a lot on our plates at the moment," Nikolai was hiding something, and Hunk said,

"What do you mean?" Nikolai lifted his left hand gingerly and sure enough ice rose with it. Hunk stared open mouthed for about three seconds and then Nikolai made a simple motion with his hand and the ice grew in that direction. It was unheard of and Hunk didn't like it one bit. "How…?" Hunk began,

"I don't know vhen it started," Nikolai said frowning as if trying to remember when, "It…ah…happens more vhenever I'm upset or angry. I don't know how to stop it or how to control it,"

"I see," Hunk said shaking slightly, "So have you told anyone else,"

"Of course not!" Nikolai snapped, "I don't think it's ever happened to any varrior,"

Hunk looked at Nikolai and agreed. Little did he know Nikolai wasn't the only one it was going to happen to; there was going to be more elemental fun for the Skulls that would push them further apart from their female comrades, yet in the same token perhaps make them closer than ever before.

It was a regular (or as regular as a day could get) in Sutafu, Albert was watching the most violent trainee class that they'd ever had and it was full of fights and trainees ripping each other apart, or in some cases causing a few broken bones and bloody noses or gashes. He sighed. Normally it was a foolish girl called Rosilinda that started the fights usually and a couple of particularly nasty girls had beaten her up. Today was the day that Albert knew they were using the practice claymores to spar with one another and they weren't supposed to do any damage, as Orsay had stipulated. However no one really listened to Orsay and as soon as he was gone, Rosilinda was at it again. Albert had enough of the behaviour and was about to put the brat into the ground himself when three very loud "cracks" sounded. Everyone froze and turned to see Rosilinda drop her sword and her sparring partner made Albert do a double take. It was Chloey, holding the blade like it was far too light for her tiny frame, unmoved and looking quite innocent of the bloody mess that was an arm broken in three places. Albert came over and those wide silver eyes met his, "I know what you did Chloey," He said calmly the girl unmoved simply looking at him and a subtle smirk was on her face, subtle since a human wouldn't see it, but Albert knew what it was about, Chloey had after all given the class bully a lesson she wouldn't forget in a hurry. "And I think you shouldn't have done it," he added the smirk remained and Orsay arrived. He yelled at them of course and Albert watched as Chloey was led away. He shook his head; it wasn't the first time she'd gotten a classmate good like this. He knew that all too well as for the most part Chloey was unpredictable at best, that smirk though…it gave him food for thought and he had to wonder just how she managed to hide such an expression from him as that. He however wondered at the other emotion that was at him…surely not pride but something akin to it obviously because he somehow saw her as his own. She was powerful that much Albert decided was certain. That little girl was a lot like him…

Albert had noticed something else rather strange as he'd gone about his regular business as a Skull warrior. Fire moved; no doubt it moved on its own, but it was starting to move to his will. At first he'd dismissed it as the wind from his movement having not actually thought about happened. He wasn't in to superstition after all being as practically minded as he was. What worried him was that it kept happening and on a regular basis and he didn't know why it was happening. Not just because he walked around the fire, but when he was staring into it with not a breeze to move it at all. He didn't understand why it was happening and he discovered that he could touch the flames and not get burned by it. Albert had seen the inadvertent effects of his thoughts on the flames that were within striking distance of him, something that was disconcerting to Albert as he'd never had anything like it before. Fire flared when he was annoyed and died down when he was saddened by something; like when his thoughts dwelled on Roxanne's death. He also discovered that it didn't burn him like the other warriors if he touched it, the heat not even bothering him in the slightest. The fire also bent to Albert's will, moving the way he wanted with some very interesting results. The more Albert tried to control the fire, the better he became at it. Of course Chloey was the first one to actually see him openly control a somewhat out of control fire in Rimuto's office; she knew it was him that got it under control and despite the fact that she didn't say a word, he knew that she knew. It was annoying to get her talking so Albert had done nothing at the time, perhaps she'd not noticed at all and he was just over thinking it. He was dead wrong. Chloey had sensed what was going on, but like the naturally quiet warrior she was no words left her mouth because she didn't actually need to say anything as it wasn't her place. Yet Chloey found her own bit of fun was just simply to watch the patterns that Albert made with the flames and it was one of the few pleasures that she had at that point in time.

It had been several weeks since that had happened and Albert met up with the other Skulls, each man having his own problems that were now surfacing and in some cases being a cause of caution to avoid the general warriors whom they didn't want to panic about this turn of events. Each of them spent a good deal of time trying to work out how his powers worked and for the most part it was clear that they needed a bit of work. They soon discovered that it was tied to their yoki, but it was only a minor start. It did put Albert in an interesting frame of mind. He wanted to test just how deeply it was connected and he _knew_ that the only way to do that was to involve a _certain_ warrior…someone who was much better at sensing yoki than Hunk. He would have to wait and see how she responded though before he tried to get her to say what she sensed from the others however.

Hunk was sitting on a rock, having noticed that each of the men had discovered some sort of "elemental" power. He frowned at William as the other man had inadvertently blown dirt through the entire cave. Of course he'd not meant to do it, it had just happened and he needed to practice the air control. Nikolai had been improving his control over the ice and almost was able to use it in combat. Hunk sat, observing what the other men did. He smirked a little and decided to try his ability. Lightning shot from his finger tip and hit the wall near Nikolai. All of the men stared at Hunk, who grinned sheepishly, "It works on the yoma," he said and they spent the rest of the day working out how to control their powers, Albert opting to save his in case he ever needed it, like his yoki. It just made him all the more curious as to why only the men had developed this ability and not the female warriors.

It was almost two weeks from when they first discovered their abilities, Albert was walking out to see some warriors who were hunting down a deserter; Albert having wanted to give her a chance to hide away, but not getting the details of why she deserted in the first place. He hoped that it wasn't one of the girls whom he was helping to hide away and upon closer inspection it appeared to be one that he didn't know. He watched as the warriors killed her and the same feeling of loss coursed through him as had the other warriors that had killed her. Then he left, looking to distance himself from the scene, it wouldn't do to let a Skull getting involved. Especially since the warriors were skilled enough to deal with the individual at present.

As it was Albert had travelled into the territory that was usually occupied by the Number 8, although the scent in the area was different…a certain small trainee had been past this spot and as Albert walked forwards, he had to wonder what happened to the Number 8. He was surprised to find in a clearing none other than Chloey, with amour strewn about the place and a sword not too far from her sleeping form. The girl was muttering in her sleep, words slurred and spoken with surprising ease. The young one's words were sharp, she was swearing screaming and yet Albert somehow knew it wasn't pleasant dreams that she was having. He didn't know why but he sat down near her. She woke suddenly and he noticed that she wasn't fully awake. Silent tears rolled down her cheeks and her eyes were closed. He didn't know what possessed him to but he gently picked the small girl up. He felt her curl up into his arms and it seemed that for all the power that she carried, Chloey was more vulnerable than he realised. Albert felt the small shoulders shaking and he just held the small child in his arms, not knowing what else to do in the present situation other than to hold the tiny, frail body in his arms.

An hour passed and the silent crying subsided, although Chloey hadn't moved he knew that she was fully awake. He realised then that he'd forgotten just how much Chloey had lost, and the only thing she had left was Kate. If Kate were to be killed Albert had little doubt that the child would awaken from the pain of losing her. He gently let Chloey decide when she was ready to put her amour on and after about half a minute or so she was fully ready for the day's challenges. Albert decided that he would keep a close eye on the child, feeling that he needed to protect her from the trials that a warrior had to face, within his duty of course. Chloey's wide silver eyes met his and he heard a quiet, "Goodbye Mr Wesker," and the girl left the clearing. Albert didn't understand what he felt, it was strange and nothing he'd expected to feel before. Was it instinct that made him like this he wondered?

The next time that Albert saw Chloey, the girl had just killed a group of yoma and he was amazed at the ease at which she'd killed them. Rimuto had been ignoring Albert and for the most part and was fine with Albert to keep an eye on the child, in fact Rimuto even asked him to because apparently he didn't want another "Riful". So with Albert spending more time around the girl, the more he learned about The Silent Chloey's ways. He soon discovered that she didn't like to make much of a fuss over anything that she deemed not very important. For instance when she went up to Godar Hill she didn't tell him about what happened and when he asked she didn't say anything about it. He did however learn that when she did speak, it was more important to listen as she didn't like to repeat herself and that she would throw some incredible hints to them. Somehow it was through the hinting that he estimated just how much she knew about what was going on. The thought was rather frightening to say the least, if the hints were anything to follow. She knew more than he ever hoped her to know. She knew what the Skulls had learned before her, somehow easier than the Skulls did. Albert had to wonder…how?


End file.
